On the subject of home cooking, avoid onions and garlic! I have heard all kinds of mis-information on this, including that garlic is a good, natural cat wormer. In fact all members of the lily family are highly toxic to cats, which family includes onions and garlic.

I've tried to cook for my cat and she says she'd rather go hungry, plus everything I eat has onions or garlic, so she happily eats Trader Joes dry. She does like anything made from grain that is thin and crispy, like pizza crust and tortilla chips.

Also avoid fatty foods. Cats don't get a lot of concentrated fat in the wild, and a big glob of cholesteral can clog their pancreatic duct and induce diabetes. My cat never begs/steals food, except for once she ate an entire sink of lamb trimmings. I've caught her checking out grease left in the deep fat fryer. Bottom line, it's not a good idea to leave open grease or fat out.

Same for caffeine and dogs, which they usually get in chocolate. It's like crack to them, physiologically. You will hear debate about this constantly. Do not be fooled. Anyone that insists otherwise is not a fit pet owner. Unfortunately people who have no ability to deal with reality often use animals as a proxy for society.